Sugden: ‘Two big parties not ready for justice portfolio yet’

Former Justice Minister Claire Sugden has said the time “has not yet come” for either of the DUP or Sinn Féin to take control of her old Stormont department.

She had been speaking on BBC Radio Ulster yesterday evening after the Sinn Féin party leader Mary Lou McDonald had claimed a deal had been reached between the two main parties for the justice minister at Stormont to be elected in the same way as other departments.

Speaking to the Inside Politics programme on Friday evening, Ms Sugden said: “I think if anything this week has proved that that time hasn’t quite come.

“I think we need to get over big issues like legacy. I think we need to be mature in how we deal with those issues before it can go into the normal d’Hondt arrangements.”

The independent unionist MLA added: “I think the issue here isn’t about unionism and nationalism, I think the issue here is about the DUP and Sinn Féin.”